The two-year project was designed to test whether the specialized skills and strengths of different campuses can contribute toward the singular objective of developing and launching small satellite payloads. Organizers compared the collaboration to the Hawaiian concept of the ahupua‘a, where a division of labor across different resources from the mountain to the sea created a self-sustaining community.

The instrument the student team will be sending up with the rocket is an ultraviolet spectrometer that will measure the sun’s radiation above the Earth’s stratosphere, since ultraviolet light is absorbed at sea level. The information the spectrometer collects could be incorporated into future climate studies.

Both Windward and Kauai community college students designed and constructed the payload’s mechanical housing as well. The Hawaii team is the only community college whose payload was selected for the launch (the other half dozen coming from mainland universities).

After the August launch in Virginia, organizers say they hope to place payloads aboard rocket launched by the HSFL from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.

Placing payloads aboard rockets is only part of “Project Imua,” which is funded by a $500,000 NASA grant. The plan is to award as many as 100 scholarships to community college students in the UH system to provide training and hands-on experiences in building rocket payloads.

The long-term hope is to shepherd the arrival of “Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory 2.0,” building upon successful launches with an expansion plan that would include the creation of a mission-oriented science and engineering department focused on small satellite and UAV missions, and adding space technology elements to existing schools and colleges.